Fethiye – Paspatur Is Back On The Map

Paspatur, Fethiye’s old town – it’ll always sit somewhere peacefully inside us. As well as the harbour views along the Karagözler, it was the area that really stole us when we first came to Fethiye on holiday in 1998. Trailing, lush and leafy vines shading us from the hot sun, so peaceful in the daytime and a gentle buzz at nights. How many hours did we spend chatting to bar staff and shop owners (and some of those people are now close friends) outside Car Cemetery Bar and Deep Blue? We talked, we shopped, we ate…and, of course, we drank.

That feeling about Paspatur has never left us. It’ll always be special for us. It’s our haven. It’s where we’re completely at ease, where people know us, where we know there’ll always be familiar faces. But somewhere between that first holiday in 1998 and through the first decade of the 2000s, Paspatur went through a lull. Maybe Paspatur lost its way a bit…or maybe people just decided to be elsewhere – maybe a combination of the two – but it was a lull.

New Year’s Eve preparations in Paspatur

We’ve sat in Deep Blue Bar on New Year’s Eve in years gone by and been two of a small handful of people huddled around the fire at midnight. In summer, we’ve sat outside at night with a smattering of others, musing about, “Where is everybody?” But slowly, slowly, over the last two years or so, Hamam Sokak (the street where Deep Blue Bar and Car Cemetery are) has come back to life – and now, this area is just buzzing!

New Year’s Eve in Paspatur

Granted, these photos are from New Year’s Eve last week – it’s bound to be busy – but, like we said, we’ve been huddled around a fire with a few others in years gone by. Three years ago, our friends came over for New Year and we were just a few people in Deep Blue. This year, they said, “Well we can just get there whenever, can’t we? It wasn’t busy when we last came…”

“Things have changed,” we said. “Last year was heaving all along the street. It’s a fantastic atmosphere. But we need to get there at a sensible time if we want to sit down.”

And we did get a seat because friends saved one for us. On normal winter’s evenings, especially on a Saturday night, you can expect similar scenes, too. In summer, well, it’s just busy anyway. All this tends to occur later on in the evenings – the youth and not-so-youthful of Fethiye tend to start their revelries post 10pm, and why not? If there’s live music, that’s usually post 10pm, too. And we all sit outside because there are heaters to keep us warm. No worries if it rains, either – it absolutely tippled down on New Year’s Eve. This section of Hamam Sokak is now covered. It’s like sitting on the inside, outside.

As far as nighttime revelry is concerned, yes, it’s more lively than it used to be and that might not suit everyone. But it’s later on when the crowds arrive, and us; we’re just so happy that Paspatur is back on people’s radars. Hopefully, 2015 will be a successful year, not just for the bars of Hamam Sokak, but for the other businesses in the area, too. Our happy Paspatur warm glow is back!

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